Source ESB
February 10, 2006

 

 

Newark InOne revamps Website for RoHS conversion

 

This is part two in a three-part series that looks at where companies can get help as they transition to lead-free production. The first part looked at support offered by distributors Arrow Electronics Inc. and Avnet Inc. This part looks at support developed by Chicago-based distributor Newark InOne. Part three will look at consulting companies.

 

Perhaps more than any other distributor, Newark InOne, with its UK-based sister distributor Farnell InOne, has stayed on the forefront of the transition to RoHS. Newark InOne was talking about RoHS before it was cool. Executives from Farnell InOne have been involved in industry groups studying the technical developments on lead-free components for years. Attorneys at Farnell InOne have also been ahead of the curve in exploring the legal ramifications of RoHS on OEMs and CMs (contract manufacturing), distributors and suppliers along the electronics supply chain.

 

For more than a year, Newark InOne has developed its Website to support RoHS compliance. The company’s RoHS Express compliance site contains information on a wide variety of compliance issues, including legislation being developed by individual states. The site offers state-by-state legislation status of environmental laws being developed by each U.S. state.

 

Newark InOne also offers a free bill of materials (BOM) scrubber that reviews a manufacturer’s current parts to determine whether they are RoHS compliant. The BOM scrubber is available to anyone. Existing Newark InOne customers can take the scrubbing process a step further with the RoHS Wizard, which gives the customer a report on the RoHS status of all parts in the customer’s purchase history. “We can schedule a run of the monthly wizard and give customers a call or email – whichever the customer prefers – to let them know the status of their suppliers,” says Susan Fischer, SVP or marketing and e-commerce at Newark InOne.

 

The company has recently added new features to support RoHS compliance. Newark InOne has just released a RoHS hard-copy catalog that contains compliant parts exclusively. Newark InOne has also identified four steps that an OEM typically considers on its way to compliance. The RoHS Express Website collects pertinent information within each of the steps. The steps include:

 

Step 1: Understand RoHS

 

This section contains extensive information and articles offering the details of what companies need to do to comply with RoHS and other environmental regulations affecting their electronic and electrical products.

 

Step 2: Analyze parts lists/BOM

 

This section offers links to the BOM scrubber, the RoHS Wizard, and a free product-watch obsolescence tool.

 

Step 3: Purchase compliant parts

 

This section lets users put a RoHS filter on all purchases to ensure all the components they purchase are compliant. The tool also shows RoHS compliant substitutes for parts that are not yet compliant.

 

Step 4: Assure RoHS compliance accuracy

 

This section introduces Newark InOne’s ten-step due diligence process that ensures that parts sold as RoHS compliant actually are free of the six hazardous materials identified in the RoHS legislation.

 

The 10-step process makes up Newark InOne’s RoHS Quality Assurance Policy:

 

  1. RoHS compliant parts are physically separated from non-compliant parts at the warehouse.
  2. New part numbers are given for RoHS compliant parts even if the supplier does not change the part number.
  3. RoHS data is collected from suppliers and compared with product datasheets.
  4. Each supplier is rated using a risk-assessment process that evaluates the quality of its compliance information. Suppliers are reassessed regularly.
  5. Risk designations for suppliers are complied for quick reference and access.
  6. To verify the reliability of the RoHS data furnished by suppliers, Newark InOne may ask manufacturers for additional conformance statements and independent test results. In some cases, Newark InOne will conduct its own third-party tests.
  7. When parts are received at the Newark InOne warehouse, their markings are inspected to make sure that they conform to the compliance information in the Newark InOne database.
  8. If a discrepancy is found, Newark InOne contacts the supplier to resolve the issue. If that part is found to be non-compliant, Newark InOne also advises any customer who purchased the part.
  9. A Newark InOne Certificate of Compliance may be requested for any RoHS-compliant part purchased.
  10. Audit trails are kept to support the accuracy of the Certificates of Compliance issued by Newark InOne.

 

Throughout the past year as the electronics industry moved to lead-free parts, Newark InOne has collected information on the transition and shared that information with customers and the public at large. Few companies in the electronics industry have been as diligent at Newark InOne in spreading information on compliance.

 

Archived Articles

  1. Rushing out RoHS help – part one: distribution
  2. Are Counterfeit Parts Going Compliant?
  3. RoHS deadline: Closer to ready
  4. New twists in environmental compliance rules
  5. RoHS impacts MRO parts
  6. Lead-free parts need extensive testing
  7. Industry calls for non-compliant parts
  8. Green laws hitting from all corners
  9. iNEMI releases standards for RoHS transition
  10. Getting parts around the world 

 

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